An environmental group known for confronting whaling ships at sea asked the Supreme Court today to lift an injunction barring it from maneuvers that harass Japanese whalers. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society filed an appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order in December requiring the nonprofit to stay at least 500 feet away from Japanese whaling ships....read more

"Whale Wars" TV conservationist Paul Watson quit his conservation society Tuesday because of a recent federal court injunction against him and his group's anti-whaling activities.

Last month, the Japanese research foundation Institute of Cetacean Research and the Japanese firm Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. secured a U.S. District Court injunction against Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, according to the institute's website....read more

Environmentalists are outraged after approximately 18,000 shark fins were discovered drying out on a rooftop in Hong Kong, hidden from public view. The delicacy, often used in soup, is very popular in China. But the practice of fisherman removing the animal's fin and throwing it back into the sea to die, and the over-harvesting of sharks, has begun to change public opinion...read more

Dr Brown, who retired from the Greens leadership and the Australian Senate last year, will join Sea Shepherd Australia's board of directors early this year, the organisation announced on its website.

Dr Brown, who is a long-time friend of the Sea Shepherd's public face Paul Watson, said he had long admired the group's activism in trying to prevent Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.

"It is an honour to join the Board of Sea Shepherd Australia, whose mission, backed by the majority of Australians, is to protect nearly 1000 whales from the Japanese slaughter fleet this summer," he said....read more

Anti-whaling activists unveiled on Tuesday their latest weapon against Japanese whalers in the frigid Southern Ocean, a $2 million ship funded by the producer of The Simpsons television series and purchased in secret from the Japanese government.

The 56-metre (184 ft) 'Sam Simon', which docked in the southern Australian port of Hobart, brings the hardline anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's fleet to four, just one vessel smaller that Japan's whaling fleet....read more

For the past eight years the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) led by Captain Paul Watson has prosecuted its anti-whaling campaigns in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary near Antarctica and disrupted the annual Japanese whaling hunt. This year another ship is being added to the expanding Sea Shepherd fleet, the SSS Sam Simon, named after The Simpsons co-creator whose generous donation made the purchase possible. The Sam Simon, along with the existing fleet comprised of the SSS Steve Irwin, the SSS Bob Barker and the SSS Bridget Bardot are en route to once again interdict Japanese whaling operations...read more

The founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is returning to Antarctic waters to track and confront Japanese whaling fleets, months after skipping bail in Germany and going on the run.

From aboard a Sea Shepherd ship, Paul Watson told Associated Press on Tuesday that his job is to protect whales, and he can't do that if he's in custody. He said the Sea Shepherd fleet is already in the Southern Ocean....read more

MILITANT conservationist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson will join this year's campaign against Japanese whalers despite an Interpol notice for his arrest, the group says.

The Canadian national has not been seen since he skipped bail in Germany in July on charges stemming from a high-seas confrontation over shark finning in 2002, but he has pledged to lead the fight against the harpoonists....read more

Sea Shepherd activists are planning to take their Antarctic anti-whaling campaign to Japan's doorstep for the first time, in a direct challenge to the Asian power.

The group's ships will head north from Sydney and Melbourne within days, in what they say is a bid to engage the whaling fleet in its home waters.

"The plan is for our fleet to be meeting their fleet in the North Pacific off Japan," the group's deputy leader Peter Hammarstedt told Fairfax. "We are planning to take the battle pretty much up to Japan itself."...read more

While we’ve known since late June that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was on the verge of adding another ship to its fleet, the actual identity of the vessel has remained a closely-guarded secret.

Turns out it’s all by design as the SSCS are not keen to unwrap the new M/V Sam Simon (named after “The Simpsons” co-creator that’s funding its purchase) until Operation Zero Tolerance is underway in the Southern Ocean. As Sea Shepherd’s Senior Media Relations Manager Lisa Agabian told me, the hope is that “we may retain the element of surprise against the Japanese whaling fleet.”...read more

At 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, President Laura Chinchilla, flanked by Environment Minister René Castro and noted conservationist and billionaire owner of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, signed a presidential decree that bans the practice of shark finning, as well as the importation and transportation of shark fins....read more

Japan’s government-subsidized whaling program is in dire straits. Last week the Institute of Cetacean Research, as the program is called, reported a $20.5 million loss, and blamed the activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for making them abandon their Antarctic hunt two weeks early....read more

During the explanatory meeting, the legislators called into question the diversion of funds earmarked for disaster recovery projects to eight other projects, including boosted measures to protect research whaling ships from attacks by the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd and an Okinawa Prefecture national highway improvement and construction project....read more

The Institute of Cetacean Research, the government group that operates Japan’s widely criticized research whaling, suffered a nearly crippling financial blow last year when its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean was disrupted by an environmental group, a Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday. It said the institute suffered a loss of $20.5 million, requiring additional financing from the government. The newspaper said the group, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, limited the whaling fleet’s catch to 172 whales, or one-third of its take the year before. The institute relies on the sale of whale meat to finance a large part of its operations, experts say...read original article

Last December there was a mild eruption of indignation when it was reported that some of the money earmarked for reconstruction of areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 would go to protect research whaling from interventionists like Sea Shepherd. Greenpeace and a few other organizations claimed the use of these funds for such a purpose was improper, but the fisheries ministry insisted it was perfectly in line with the policy set forth when the reconstruction budgets were approved, since whaling was integral to the economies of some communities in the disaster-hit area....read more

On Sept. 9, the "NHK Special" program aired by the public broadcaster reported that funds set aside for disaster recovery projects had been diverted to anti-terrorism and anti-Sea Shepherd measures, amazing residents of disaster-ravaged areas. Needless to say, over half of 19 trillion yen allocated for disaster recovery efforts over the five-year period following the quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis will be raised by tax hikes....read more

With his bushy white beard, stout figure and cargo pants, Captain Paul Watson looks more like a hard-edged seaman than the star of one of television's more popular reality shows. But at a busy restaurant in downtown Los Angeles this spring, the 59-year-old at the center of "Whale Wars" was being confronted by his new identity as a celebrity.

After being seated, Watson was promptly greeted by a waiter, who presented him with a tray full of vegan hors d'oeuvres. "Compliments of the chef," the waiter said. "He's a big fan of your show."

Indeed, the controversial Canadian activist's profile has risen dramatically because of the success of his Animal Planet show, which documents his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's travails in the waters off Antarctica as it battles Japanese whaling fleets. Since the show's inception in fall 2008, the program has become the channel's second-highest-rated program and last season averaged over 1 million viewers an episode, according to the channel. . . more

The Japanese whaling fleet has returned from the Antarctic with its smallest catch for years, blaming "violent interference" from the militant Sea Shepherd conservation group.

The whalers' final total of 506 minke whales and one fin whale was well short of its 935 target – and the lowest on record after the 2006-07 season when the fleet had to return home early with just 505 whales after a fire broke out on a Japanese ship.

Shigetoshi Nishiwaki of the Institute of Cetacean Research, the body that conducted the Antarctic whaling expedition, told reporters: "Anger is the word."

He added that Sea Shepherd activists "say they protect the sea but they don't care about leaking oil or leaving pieces of a broken ship behind". He was referring to an incident in January when Sea Shepherd’s powerboat the Ady Gil was sliced in two by a Japanese whaling ship. . . more

'I've never feared for my life. I don't know why. Maybe it's a feeling of denial or maybe being able to appreciate the danger," captain Paul Watson says, his voice lighting up.

You get the distinct impression that it's the latter. The president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has certainly faced his fair share of perils, and recounts tales of derring-do with glee.

Watson excitedly describes how 30 drunken sealers kicked in his hotel room door while he was protesting the Canadian seal hunt in 1995.

"They were all standing there ready to attack me and all I could think of was: 'I'm not going to give in to these guys.' One of them came at me and punched me in the side of the head, so I took him down with a stun gun. Another came in from the other side and I took him out. That confused them so much that the police were able to get in and get them off me." . . . more

On Dec. 7, 2009, the Steve Irwin, a ship belonging to the radical anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society departed from the port of Fremantle, in Western Australia, bound for Antarctica. It was farewelled by members of the celebrated animal conservationist's family, who supported the Sea Shepherd's Mission to obstruct the Japanese whalers in Antarctic Waters.

The Steve Irwin was later joined by two more vessels from the Sea Shepherd's fleet: The high-tech stealth boat Ady Gil, which sunk in the Southern Sea following a collision with whaling boat on Jan. 6., and the Bob Barker, a ship that survived a collision on Feb. 6 and is currently exchanging rancid-butter bombs with water canon fire from the whalers. On Feb. 15, New Zealander Pete Bethune, the former captain of the Ady Gil crew, boarded Japan's Shonan Maru 2 in the middle of the night, presented the skipper with a $3 million invoice for sinking the Ady Gil, and attempted a citizen's arrest. Bethune was detained by the crew of the Japanese vessel, and according to Paul Watson the President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society the ship has turned back to Japan. Bethune could be facing trespass charges in Tokyo. "It's one more whaling ship out of the water," said Watson, who is onboard the Steve Irwin. "Our presence has cost them $70 to $80 million dollars.". . . more

Despite speaking on a bad line from somewhere off Antarctica, the message from Paul Watson was loud and clear:"We will never retreat or surrender the southern oceans till we drive the Japanese whaling fleet out of here. We are not going to back down on this, and we are getting stronger every year. Every year we come down with more support." For the fifth year running now, Watson, the charismatic 60-year-old founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is pursuing Japan's whaling fleet across the frigid Southern Ocean with his ragtag "Neptune's Navy" of supporters. . . more

More than eight in 10 Australians say the Federal Government is not doing enough to prevent Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, a poll has found.

The strong feeling stretches across all age groups, with only 9 per cent saying the Government is doing enough.

The finding comes as a Japanese political and business consultant warned of the danger of the dispute to relations between the two and a small group of protesters demonstrated outside the Japanese embassy yesterday.

The Australian Government is trying to reach a diplomatic solution while keeping the threat of legal action as an option.

In a UMR national poll of 1000 people between January 7 and 11, 94 per cent opposed Japanese whaling.

Three-quarters said they were prepared to refuse to buy Japanese products or services to pressure Japan to stop whaling. . . . more

An altruistic millionaire spends a fortune on high-tech vehicles and an arsenal of non-lethal weaponry — including sonic blasters and photonic disruptors — for a vigilante battle against similarly-armed villains. Nope, it's not a comic book plot. This is real life, according to a story in the New Yorker about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's recent tussle with some Japanese whalers. And it raises interesting questions about the future of non-lethal devices as tools of protest.

In an article called "Streetfight on the High Seas," the magazine interviews Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson. He describes how the group went into action in a converted whaling ship and a 78-foot wave-piercing trimaran, capable of 45 knots. This boat is often described as looking like something out of a Batman movie; a million dollars of the purchase price was supplied by Hollywood lighting magnate Ady Gil, and the boat was named after him.

The fight started when a Japanese ship, the Shonan Maru 2, attacked the Shepherd vessel MV Steve Irwin with a water cannon and a Long Range Acoustic Device 'sonic blaster.' The Sea Shepherd folks have their own LRAD; they haven't used yet. (This leads to the question of what happens when two LRAD-armed opponents get into a standoff – a battle of wills, determined by who has the best hearing protection.). . . more

An anti-whaling group's high-speed boat and a Japanese whaler reported colliding at sea on Wednesday, with each blaming the other.

Video taken from the deck of the Japanese ship, Shonan Maru 2, showed the collision with the Ady Gil, a sleek black trimaran belonging to a group that aggressively confronts the Japanese whaling fleet each year as it plies the waters south of Australia and New Zealand.

The video shows a frothy wake coming from the stern of the Ady Gil, although it is unclear whether the trimaran was moving. The Shonan Maru 2 was directing a water cannon at the Ady Gil before and during the collision, which is clearly seen on the video, and the bow of the Ady Gil was sheared off. . . more

The federal government is opening a new front in its decades-old clash with anti-sealing groups, shifting the battlefield from ice floes to the Internet.

Concerned that seal protests timed for the Vancouver Winter Olympics may further bloody the country's reputation, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade posted a contract for a company to monitor and neutralize “well-organized anti-sealing groups” who are cultivating vast support online through Facebook, Twitter and other social-networking sites.

One such group, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, recently launched a site that features the cute Olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi murdering a frightened seal. Several other sites run by Humane Society International, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society all post videos of Canadian hunters clubbing seals and dragging their bleeding carcasses across the ice. . . more

Japanese whalers have set out for waters off the Australian Antarctic Territory. Australians await their arrival with trepidation, as this is the third season since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government pledged to end whaling in the Southern Ocean.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) confirms that each year, the Japanese fleet begins whaling in mid-December and alternates each year between the Australian Antarctic waters and the Antarctic Ross Sea. The IWC has been working for years to curb whaling. . . . more

Sharks have lived in the oceans for 400 million years and since they are at the top of the food chain, they have shaped the evolution of pretty much everything else that lives in the sea. It means that anything that puts sharks at risk could have profound effects on the ecosystem of the oceans.

Right now, sharks are in trouble and it's mostly because of soup.

Try to find someone who will defend shark finning. You can't. Neither the stores that sell the fins nor the restaurants that serve the soup. Shark fin soup is considered a status symbol in Asian cultures, but when the I-Team asked the local Asian Chamber of Commerce where it stands on sales of shark fin, the spokesperson said she was unaware of any controversy about shark finning. . . . more

Animal Planet announced that it has renewed Whale Wars for a third season.

Whale Wars' second-season finale aired last Friday night on Animal Planet, and it was the most-watched episode ever of the reality series -- averaging 1.3 million total viewers. Overall, Whale Wars' second season was the second-best performing series in the network's history, averaging 1.08 million total viewers per episode.

In addition to its ratings success Whale Wars also recently received its first-ever Emmy nomination, as it was recognized in the Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming category. . . . more

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is at work all over the world, but you’ll know Paul Watson best for patrolling Arctic waters intercepting whaling convoys. Whale Wars, now in its second season on Animal Planet, follows Watson and his feisty crew aboard the Steve Irwin as they ram boats, hurl stink bombs, and try to otherwise spoil the whale hunt. In the process, Watson claims he has been shot and his crew pummeled with fire hoses, golf balls, and high-tech sound cannons. All the while the debate rages over whether this is terrorism, piracy, or heroism.

In our interview, Watson gives details of these daring encounters and drops some details of the coming season when his fleet will add the Earthrace, a record-breaking eco-speedboat, to directly intercept Japanese harpoon boats. Love him or hate him, Watson claims to be closing in on victory: “Our objective is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically, and I think we're achieving that. One more season, maybe two, and we'll put them out of business.”. . . more

Animated clip intended to raise awareness of whaling practices was completed as tribute to the late actor.

In 2007, Isaac Brock — wild-eyed, unkempt mastermind of Modest Mouse — mentioned in an interview that Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger had expressed interest in directing a video for "King Rat," a throwaway track from MM's We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.

Not only that, but famed director Terry Gilliam, with whom Ledger was working on "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," had agreed to animate the clip. It all seemed rather odd, and Brock appeared nonplussed by the project (telling VH1, "I hope it works out and I don't sound like a f--ing liar at the end of this"). Modest Mouse fans around the world greeted the news with a resounding "Wha?!?"

Then, in early 2008, Ledger was found dead in a New York apartment, and the entire project was quickly forgotten by pretty much everybody except Brock and the California-based artist collective known as the Masses.

Animal Planet ranked #1 among all cable with M25-54 and #2 with P25-54 at the 9 PM and 10 PM hours respectively (excluding movies). WHALE WARS fueled the network’s success at 9 PM while the Planet’s recent hit series RIVER MONSTERS contributed to the 10 PM victory.

Among all cable programs on Friday night, WHALE WARS and RIVER MONSTERS ranked in the top five among M25-54.

“WHALE WARS is one of the most exciting series in the network’s history and a terrific launch for our summer season with ten more weeks of amazing storytelling for the show’s fans,” noted Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet. “Animal Planet is building a strong slate for a passionate audience with series like WHALE WARS, RIVER MONSTERS and a new season of JOCKEYS returning later this summer.”. . . more

"Whale Wars", the highest rated show on Animal Planet is returning for a second season. The show follows members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as they try to stop whaling ships from capturing and killing whales caught under the guise of research.

Captain Paul Watson and Shannon Mann are interviewed by the hosts of Good Day LA about the upcoming season. . . . more

The captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is delighted skirmishes between his volunteers and Japan’s whaling fleet caused the whalers to fall short of their target catch.

Captain Paul Watson, who led the protest, said yesterday’s media reports revealing Japan killed 679 minke whales when it aimed for 935 during the five month hunt which kicked off in November was encouraging.

“It’s the third year in a row that they have lost profits,” Capt. Watson told thewest.com.au

He said he used the term ‘profits’ as he felt he had to talk the fleet’s language.

“The goal is to bankrupt them so it’s not worth their effort,” he said.

“One more year and we will have them.”

Yesterday Kazuo Yamamura, president of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, which operates the whaling fleet, told reporters he was upset by damage allegedly caused to his ships by Sea Shepherd.

He told the media he was “enraged” and his blood was “boiling with anger”. . . . more

This year’s Australian Quiksilver Pro witnessed a remarkable moment in surfing history when nine-time ASP champion Kelly Slater joined lifelong eco-crusader, Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, to announce the recent launch of a Quiksilver Australia/Sea Shepherd partnership.

The deal includes a customized Quiksilver sponsored Sea Shepherd clothing line featuring a signature Kelly Slater board short. For every retail item sold, the industry giant will donate $5 to help support the efforts of the self-proclaimed, “Neptune’s Navy.” . . . more

The Disney film "Bolt" and the tear-jerker "Marley and Me," along with television dramas "Bones," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," were among the nominees announced Wednesday for the Humane Society's awards honoring news and entertainment media that showcase animal issues. . . . more

Anti-whaling activists have vowed to fight Japanese whalers with a bigger, faster and more powerful ship next hunting season.

Protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have backed away from their intense clash with whaling vessels in the Southern Ocean, but say they'll return next year with a longer range ship.

Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson said after deciding to return to Australian shores yesterday, ''We need to block those deadly harpoons and we need to outrun these hunter killer ships and to do that I need a ship that is as fast as they are and I intend to get one and I intend to return next year.''

The decision ends a season of extreme clashes between whalers and protesters, with some saying confrontations were the most intense seen in the past five years. . . . more

The Sea Shepherd ship the Steve Irwin and her crew have withdrawn from the Japanese whaling fleet to begin preparations to return with a faster and longer range ship.

"I have said always said that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end illegal whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary," said Captain Paul Watson. "We have done everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We have shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We have cost them money and we have saved the lives of a good many whales. And although we are willing to take the risks required, even to our own lives, I am not prepared to do to the Japanese whalers what they do to the whales. The escalating violence by the whalers will result in some serious injuries and possibly fatalities if this confrontation continues to escalate." . . . more

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's effort to harass and minimize Japan's whale hunt in the Antarctic has come to an end, as the activists have exhausted their fuel and drained their resources.

But it was an entertaining month-long, two-part episode. Tales of hurling rotten butter at the savage whale killers, if that's how you regard them. Blasting water cannons at the criminal eco-terrorists, if that's how you regard the activists.

There were vessel collisions, and the Japanese even lost a crewman overboard in a nonrelated incident.

Now Sea Shepherd's vessel, the Steve Irwin, is leaving antarctic waters and leaving the whalers to hunt minkes unopposed. . . . more

A group of radical anti-whaling activists said they were pelted with bloody chunks of whale meat and blubber after their boat collided Friday with a Japanese whaling vessel in a dramatic Antarctic Ocean clash Japan condemned as "unforgivable."

It was the second battle this week between the whalers and their foes. No one was injured, but the skirmishes mark the resumption of potentially life-threatening run-ins in a contentious fight that has become an annual fixture in the remote, icy and dangerous waters at the bottom of the world.

"The situation down here is getting very, very chaotic and very aggressive," activist Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessel, told The Associated Press on Friday by satellite phone.

The clashes come as diplomatic efforts to resolve the controversy surrounding Japan's scientific whaling program appear to have stalled.

Japan — which has described the protesters as terrorists — plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales this season. Under International Whaling Commission rules, the mammals may be killed for research. Opponents say the Japanese research expeditions are simply a cover for commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986 . . . more

In yesterday's five-hour conflict, Captain Watson said sonic devices were used against a Sea Shepherd helicopter forcing it to retreat, and resulting in the injury of an activist.

The response by the fleet came as the Japanese entered a fifth day under an increasingly tense pursuit by the Steve Irwin that was continuing last night.

On Monday, Sea Shepherd was forced to back off from an action in the face of the defences, and the activists failed in an attempt to entangle the propeller of the harpoon boat, Yushin Maru No.3, with a line flung in its path.

Captain Watson said when two fast inflatable boats were launched yesterday, the whaling ships turned on a full attack . . . more

Two environmental activists have been injured in clashes with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says.

The group said in a statement that one person was cut and bruised after being knocked over by a high pressure blast of water while the other was hit in the face by a metal object.

The activists were trailing the Japanese whaling vessels far southeast of Tasmania in inflatable boats launched from the group's flagship Steve Irwin.

Japanese authorities on Sunday admitted the fleet had turned hoses on the activists, who had hurled bottles of paint or rotten butter, but rejected claims that brass and lead balls were thrown at the protesters. . . . more

Japan's whaling authorities have denied claims by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society that whalers have used "military-grade" concussion grenades, acoustic weapons and solid brass and lead balls against the environmental group.

Two of the crew of the Steve Irwin have sustained injuries in the clashes in poor weather in Antarctic waters, according to Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd and captain of the ship. One campaigner was injured after being struck by a water cannon, the other hit in the face by a metal ball.

"Our research whaling fleet only used water cannons and did not use any other weapons," said Toshinori Uoya, a spokesman for the Far Seas Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo.

"The fleet did use water canons, but only to prevent them from approaching their own vessels in inflatable craft," he said. "They did not target the crew and only fired at the boats."

The agency's claims are in stark contrast to Sea Shepherd's reports of the clashes.

"It is a very dramatic scene out here as ships zig zag back and forth in thick ice and heavy swells," said Watson. "The whalers are deploying water cannons, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons, and throwing solid brass and lead balls at Sea Shepherd crewmembers. . . . more

Japan's whaling fleet is once more on the run in Antarctic waters after being tracked down by ship-borne environmental activists, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said Sunday.

The group's ship the "Steve Irwin" found the whalers after searching through fog and rough weather for nearly a week after a break to refuel in the southern Australian port of Hobart, Captain Paul Watson said.

"We are seven miles from the fleet and approaching. We see the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru 1 and the Yushin Maru 2," Watson said on the group's website.

"The Steve Irwin is now in close pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet." . . . more

The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its chase ship has located Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica and is in pursuit.

In a statement Sunday, the U.S.-based group said that after a week of searching their vessel was 11 kilometers from the Japanese mothership Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels and was closing in on them.

Japan has called the Sea Shepherd activists "pirates" and "eco-terrorists" because of their use of aggressive tactics, such as boarding, stink bombs and collisions. But the activists say the whalers are the real "pirates" because their hunt violates international law. . . more

A U.S.-based hardline anti-whaling group, seeking to disrupt Japanese whaling near Antarctica, said it had spotted the fleet and was closing in on it, raising the risk of a confrontation.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, blamed for collisions with the Japanese fleet in recent years, said three ships had been spotted, including two harpoon vessels, which appeared to be engaged in hunting whales amid loose ice, fog and 40-knot winds.

"We are seven miles from the fleet and approaching. We see the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru 1 and the Yushin Maru 2," the group's founder Paul Watson said in a statement.

Sea Shepherd's Dutch-registered ship Steve Irwin returned to the Southern Ocean in late January after it was forced to head for Tasmania to refuel after several weeks at sea, pursuing the Japanese fleet.

"They appear to be whaling and are moving. As we approached closer they began to move full speed toward the open ocean. The Steve Irwin has engaged both engines and we are slowly closing the gap." . . more

News item: The International Whaling Commission is considering easing its ban on commercial whaling to allow Japan to hunt whales off its coast — if Japan promises to kill fewer whales in the Antarctic.

Reaction: What the IWC ought to do is keep the ban in place and tighten the loophole that allows Japan to hunt whales in the Antarctic in the name of science, then turn and sell the whale meat commercially to a populace that is increasingly turned off by the product.

There are only three nations remaining with whaling industries: Norway, Iceland and Japan, whose industry is the largest, claiming up to 1,000 whales annually. Japan has essentially ignored a 1986 ban intended to protect intelligent mammals that for generations endured wide-scale slaughter, with many species hunted to the brink of extinction.

The U.S., thankfully, believes the ban should remain in place. Conservation groups do too. Said Capt. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, of a proposed lifting of the ban: "It's sort of like saying to bank robbers that you can't rob a bank in the city, but we'll let you do it in the country."

Canberra, Jan 22 (Prensa Latina) Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, assured today he will keep on with the diplomatic pressures on Japan to try to compelthat country to abandon controversial whale-hunting in Antarctic waters.

In a press conference, Rudd pointed out that his government is involved in a diplomatic process to see if they can find a way to solve this matter.

The head of state stressed that the International Whaling Comission has planned half way through 2009 to check the quota given to Japan to capture these mammals.

Kevin Rudd ruled out the possibility of initiating legal actions to stop the whales’ slaughter in the waters of the frozen continent.

This way, Prime Minister responded the ecologist organization Sea Shepherd that the day before showed itself prepared to abandon its chase against the Japanese whaler fleet if Australia and New Zealand adopted legal measures against Japan.

The ecology group considers that those two countries should make use of a report published this week by the International Fund for Animals Welfare by virtue of which Canberra and Wellington have the authority to stop the polemical slaughter.

The text written by a group of Australian jurists, warned that the Antarctic Treaty forces to examine the impact on the environment of any activity carried out in those waters.

Anti-whaling activists seeking to disrupt Japanese whaling around Antarctica said Saturday their ship had docked in Tasmania and should head back to the Southern Ocean next week.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society temporarily called off its operations earlier this month after its flagship the "Steve Irwin" ran low on fuel, and refused to divulge where it was heading.

However, founder Paul Watson told Reuters on that it had arrived in Hobart, capital of Australia's southern island state of Tasmania, where it was docked. It should refuel by Tuesday and head back to the ocean either Tuesday or Wednesday, he said.

Australia's whaling-opposed government had earlier rejected Japanese requests to disallow the vessel to dock and said it would allow the "Steve Irwin" to re-supply at an Australian port before returning to the Southern Ocean.

Plans are for the ship to remain in Antarctic waters until March, when Japan's annual whale hunt is due to finish, Watson said. . . more

Could it be karma, bad luck, or merely unfortunate circumstances that have victimized the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic region?

The three-vessel fleet, which has been hounded relentlessly by a crew aboard a Sea Shepherd Society ship, has already lost a crewman, who fell overboard and is presumed drowned.

More recently, one of its damaged ships, the Yushin Maru #2, has been ordered to leave the Port of Surabaya, East Java, in Indonesia before making repairs to its propeller. Australia and New Zealand do not allow the ships in their ports because large-scale commercial whaling has been condemned internationally.

Now, it seems, neither will Indonesia, which received communiques from Australia asking that it deny the whaling ships any services. . . more

Japanese whalers sent a damaged vessel thousands of kilometres to be repaired in Indonesia because they feared arrest if they landed in Australia, an anti-whaling group says.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said one of Japan's three main harpoon vessels, the Yushin Maru No.2, was damaged around December 20.

Since then, the vessel had avoided docking at relatively close ports in Australia or New Zealand, and travelled all the way to Surabaya, Indonesia for repairs, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said on Monday.

"They can be served with a warrant if they go into Australia," Captain Watson told AAP via satellite phone from the Southern Ocean.

"There is a Federal Court order banning them from whaling in Australian territorial waters and they are in contempt of that order.

"They could be detained. They won't go into an Australian or New Zealand port.". . . more

The captain of an anti-whaling ship, which offered to help search for a Japanese whaling ship's missing crewman, rejects claims he continued to harass the whalers during the search.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin has been pursuing Japanese whaling ship Kyoshin Maru No 2 in an attempt to prevent it whaling.

Early on Monday morning Hajime Shirasaki, a 30-year-old engine room oiler, was reported missing from the Kyoshin Maru No 2 and is believed to have been washed overboard, and drowned, in Antarctic seas with four metre swells.

The Japanese ship claimed the Steve Irwin's harassment continued while it was searching for the missing man.

The Steve Irwin approached without its lights on and "began to harass and disrupt navigation", a statement said.

The statement said the Steve Irwin called the Japanese vessel and said it had "come to help in the search for the missing crewman". . . more

Anti-whaling activists deny they obstructed the search for a missing Japanese crewman feared drowned in freezing Antarctic waters.

The man fell overboard from the Japanese whaling fleet on Monday.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) accused the Sea Shepherd vessel, which has been chasing the whalers for weeks and throwing stink bombs at them, of using their distress call to pinpoint their location.

According to the ICR, the protesters then lurked in the vicinity without its navigation lights on, disrupting the search.

But Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said he tried to help.

"We offered assistance in the search and their response was that they did not want any help from eco-terrorists," he told AAP. . . . more

Anti-whaling activists yesterday dared the Federal Government to ban them from docking at an Australian port to refuel after Environment Minister Peter Garrett would not dismiss a call from the Japan Whaling Association to veto their entry.

Steve Irwin captain and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said yesterday he had decided to take the longest course and head to Australia to refuel to challenge Mr Garrett.

On Sunday, the Whaling Association called on the Federal Government to stop the Steve Irwin entering a port, calling the crew terrorists.

Mr Garrett said yesterday that no complaint had been lodged against the Sea Shepherd but any request would be considered under relevant laws. There had not been any problems in the past with the Steve Irwin entering Australian ports.

However, a spokesman for Mr Garrett said later that the responsibility for any decision would rest with Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith and Customs Minister Bob Debus.

Capt. Watson said he would bypass the quicker routes of Chile and New Zealand and head for Hobart to issue Mr Garrett and the Federal Government with an ultimatum. Sea Shepherd has accused the Government of paying lip service to the whale slaughter and breaking its election promise to take an aggressive stance.

"Peter Garrett made the decision for us really," he said. "It's time to put the Government to the test. Will the Government refuse entry to a ship bearing Steve Irwin's name and carrying a crew of 15 Australian citizens?" . . . more